Jun 9, 2011

It's sweltering outside, the temperature in New York is expected to hit over a 100 degrees today. We are getting some work done to my house and unfortunately I have no AC at the moment so I wanted to make something cold and refreshing without heating up the house and this cold calamari salad is exactly what I was craving. If you buy your squid cleaned, this takes minutes to make and is easier than you think.

Squid doesn't take long to cook, if you overcook it it gets rubbery so be sure to keep a close eye on it and have an ice bath ready before you cook it.

Some variations to this, you could add cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives or hot pepper. Cilantro and lime instead of parsley would give this more of a Latin flair. Enjoy!

Bring a medium pot filled with water and a pinch of salt to a boil. Add calamari all at once and cook until tender yet cooked, (I test it by tasting a ring) about 45 - 60 seconds. Quickly drain when cooked and add to the ice bath until cool, 4 - 5 minutes.

Combine squid with the salad and toss well. Taste for salt and add additional seasoning and lemon juice if needed. Cover and refrigerate at least an hour.

Buy it at a high end butcher and you should get the "a" grade used for restautants cheaper vendors use the bait box kind. Even if prev. frozen it is good. Try to find a source from Monterery, Ca. The best!

This is great.Can't make enough. Added a tablespoon of Olive oil to offset acid in vinagar but as is is best I've ever ate. Tip. Use a pasta cooker to dip raw calamari boiling water for only 1 minute then bathe in ice water. It comes out tender. cooked it an extra 20 seconds the first time and you can tell it was getting tough.

Good morning Gina, I featured this recipe on my blog today, it looks great! Thanks for allowing me to share. Here is the link http://carriesexperimentalkitchen.blogspot.com/2012/03/week-11-seafood-frenzy-friday.html

I grew up in an Italian neighborhood, and "fish salad" was something you'd often find at some delis. Squid, salad shrimp, maybe some mussels. And sadly, also, fake crab meat. What's sad about the fake crab? I developed a wheat allergy and I can't eat any of the salad if it's got fake crab in it.

This tastes JUST like the stuff I used to buy. I even added some salad shrimp - wonderful.

You DO want to buy your squid already cleaned. Not for this recipe, but recently I bought "uncleaned" squid and I am not squirmish about a lot of food things, but yeah... that was gross. If you can only find pre-cut rings, those would work great. If you're not a lemon fan, switch out the lemon for more vinegar or some white balsamic, etc. If you like fried calamari... do not fear this recipe. 60 seconds, ice bath, and then into the dressing... the squid will turn out perfect.

I made this today using a bag of mixed frozen seafood from Trader Joe's (contained shrimp, calamari, and bay scallops). It was delicious and so refreshing since it's so hot out. Would also be nice with some orzo and avocado.